This was a fresh tin I just picked up, upon opening i got an earthy slightly sour tobacco smell, not like an overpowering Christmas Cheer vinegar but just a hint of sour.
Sadly i had got called on to a Teams meeting for work but decided to move outside for the call and to go ahead and smoke this anyway, a hot Florida day with a nice tall cold glass of fresh brewed ice tea and a pipe, not a bad way to make a living.
The tobacco wasn't too moist right out of the tin but I did spread some out on a paper towel and let it sit out for a bout 15 minutes, I also wanted to take a gander at the makeup, picture below. Loading this ribbon cut was super easy in my MM (I like to use one of these pipes for each first tasting as I'm pretty positive they are going to smoke like the champs they are).
Charring and first light, pieces of cake, right off the get go I got a dark mocha note, sort of that espresso and dark chocolate, very faint but there, sweet but not Virginia in your face sweet. This bowl is burning beautifully, if only all blends burned this smoothly and evenly the world would be a better place, tamping and poking can be enjoyable but just not something I want to do every time with every bowl.
About 1/4 way into the bowl now and no relights, a bit of tamping but only once, i do notice this is a very fine white ash, but back to the actual notes, this is an early musky smoke with those hints of sweet dark chocolate in the background, nothing about this is strong it's all very subtle so far, no complaints from me but if you like big and bold I can see where this might not be the blend for you. One thing big and bold about it is the huge clouds of smoke, even sipping gets you rewarded with billowing clouds, my first thought it the guy that posted he was looking for more smoke out of his pipe, this blend definitely fit that bill!
The work call is really starting to interfere with my smoking pleasure, I really need to hit Powerball, one thing I notice is this is such an even smoke, about 1/2 through the bowl and no major changes, starting to pick up more of a nuttiness, a sweet nut like a brazil nut comes to mind, yes I know that isn't actually a nut so let's go with a walnut note and I'm still getting some sour, more on the backend finish, i guess some people would call this citrus but I honestly keep gong back to a lime more than a regular citrus that I usually get from tobacco. The light sweet nuttiness is always there not in your face yet nothing you really have to look for too deeply, think about it and it's there, still no major changes just a nice consistency and well rounded smoke.
About 2/3 through now and I'm getting a bit of grassy hay but it comes and goes, it keeps it interesting but the sweet nut is really the major player here, that and the lime finish. The thing that is surprising to me is that the bowl is barely even warm, I pride myself on being able to slow smoke and sip from my years of cigar smoking, but even when I take a big draw off of this there is just no heat and not even a hint of bite.
Almost done and a little shocked at how fast this bowl burned down, i did the ol' three step packing method it was a fairly tight pack, bowl has lasted me about 50 minutes so far, still bowl heat and only fine white ash left in the bowl.
I just can't tell, do I like it, I don't ate it or even dislike it, I just can't tell, it's a very mild smoke that's for sure, next time I'll try it in a different pipe and compare the smoking experience. I think it's the sour citrus finish that is throwing me off, I'll look to the cast here to throw some input in on that, wether that's a common note here or maybe it's just interacting with something I ate earlier, I did have a piece of cheesecake so that heavy sweetness might be part of the interaction.
I did put the tin in a jar and shake it up to give it room to breath and blossom, I'm thinking that a little air and room will help this perk up.
Thanks for listening to my ramble, sorry if my obsession with the lack of heat and bite got in the way of the review, and any inputs and your own experiences will be greatly appreciated!
Sadly i had got called on to a Teams meeting for work but decided to move outside for the call and to go ahead and smoke this anyway, a hot Florida day with a nice tall cold glass of fresh brewed ice tea and a pipe, not a bad way to make a living.
The tobacco wasn't too moist right out of the tin but I did spread some out on a paper towel and let it sit out for a bout 15 minutes, I also wanted to take a gander at the makeup, picture below. Loading this ribbon cut was super easy in my MM (I like to use one of these pipes for each first tasting as I'm pretty positive they are going to smoke like the champs they are).
Charring and first light, pieces of cake, right off the get go I got a dark mocha note, sort of that espresso and dark chocolate, very faint but there, sweet but not Virginia in your face sweet. This bowl is burning beautifully, if only all blends burned this smoothly and evenly the world would be a better place, tamping and poking can be enjoyable but just not something I want to do every time with every bowl.
About 1/4 way into the bowl now and no relights, a bit of tamping but only once, i do notice this is a very fine white ash, but back to the actual notes, this is an early musky smoke with those hints of sweet dark chocolate in the background, nothing about this is strong it's all very subtle so far, no complaints from me but if you like big and bold I can see where this might not be the blend for you. One thing big and bold about it is the huge clouds of smoke, even sipping gets you rewarded with billowing clouds, my first thought it the guy that posted he was looking for more smoke out of his pipe, this blend definitely fit that bill!
The work call is really starting to interfere with my smoking pleasure, I really need to hit Powerball, one thing I notice is this is such an even smoke, about 1/2 through the bowl and no major changes, starting to pick up more of a nuttiness, a sweet nut like a brazil nut comes to mind, yes I know that isn't actually a nut so let's go with a walnut note and I'm still getting some sour, more on the backend finish, i guess some people would call this citrus but I honestly keep gong back to a lime more than a regular citrus that I usually get from tobacco. The light sweet nuttiness is always there not in your face yet nothing you really have to look for too deeply, think about it and it's there, still no major changes just a nice consistency and well rounded smoke.
About 2/3 through now and I'm getting a bit of grassy hay but it comes and goes, it keeps it interesting but the sweet nut is really the major player here, that and the lime finish. The thing that is surprising to me is that the bowl is barely even warm, I pride myself on being able to slow smoke and sip from my years of cigar smoking, but even when I take a big draw off of this there is just no heat and not even a hint of bite.
Almost done and a little shocked at how fast this bowl burned down, i did the ol' three step packing method it was a fairly tight pack, bowl has lasted me about 50 minutes so far, still bowl heat and only fine white ash left in the bowl.
I just can't tell, do I like it, I don't ate it or even dislike it, I just can't tell, it's a very mild smoke that's for sure, next time I'll try it in a different pipe and compare the smoking experience. I think it's the sour citrus finish that is throwing me off, I'll look to the cast here to throw some input in on that, wether that's a common note here or maybe it's just interacting with something I ate earlier, I did have a piece of cheesecake so that heavy sweetness might be part of the interaction.
I did put the tin in a jar and shake it up to give it room to breath and blossom, I'm thinking that a little air and room will help this perk up.
Thanks for listening to my ramble, sorry if my obsession with the lack of heat and bite got in the way of the review, and any inputs and your own experiences will be greatly appreciated!